That being said, maybe we're looking at things differently. I'm sure he prefers having money than not having it, but the macro scale choices he's made imply he values other things more than his personal fortune.
>>Scott Pelley: How did you figure you were going to start a car company and be successful at it?
>Elon Musk: Well, I didn't really think Tesla would be successful. I thought we would most likely fail. But I thought that we at least could address the false perception that people have that an electric car had to be ugly and slow and boring like a golf cart.
>>Scott Pelley: But you say you didn't expect the company to be successful? Then why try?
>Elon Musk: If something's important enough you should try. Even if for you — the probable outcome is failure.
Couldn't agree more. Tech is a special demographic. If someone figured out how to target the newly wealthy tech crowd, they'd probably do pretty well.
Perhaps I'm naive, but I don't see any reason not to believe similar sentiments from Bezos/Kalanick (if they actually said them -- I think the fact that they don't adds credence to those that do), even after a brief stint at Amazon (and having a prior Amazon VP as an investor). Obviously I've heard both good and bad things about both in the media, but I don't know either personally well enough to make a judgement call on their primary drive to succeed.
Uber has solved huge problems in transportation. Amazon's beginnings were humble and (IMO) hugely important as well. Musk is clearly doing big things as well, and I'm glad that all of the above have developed tech that benefits everyone. I would believe that was their goal as readily as I would believe they were just in it for the money.